The latest buzz

Kauai is blessed with bees, beekeepers, and delicious honey. In fact, there are a good number of beekeepers here on Kaua’i, and we have met many in our bookstore looking to expand their beekeeping knowledge! Whether as a business, a hobby, or a little of both, small-scale beekeeping has been cropping up all over and beekeepers are passionate about their bees and honey!

For these brave men and women, experienced or beginners, “The Beekeeper’s Handbook, Fourth Edition” by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile, has been considered one of the best resources on beekeeping since their first publication.

Throughout the handbook are easy-to-follow descriptions including step-by-step directions accompanied by more than one hundred illustrations. Not only does this extensive handbook go over the basics such as establishing an apiary, handling bees, and how to maintain a healthy colony and a generous supply of honey, it also covers your various colony care options and techniques; this way you can learn the pros and cons of different methods so you can make the best choices that fits your style or intent of beekeeping.

It also covers newer methods in dealing with potential pests, mites, and diseases (including “Colony Collapse Disorder”), green and natural methods, and even current rules for beekeeping in residential or urban areas (so those just getting started can make sure your bees are legal).

For those that already have an earlier edition, it’s worth noting that this fourth edition has been thoroughly redesigned, expanded (82 more pages), updated, and revised throughout. One of the other things we really like is that regardless of whether you intend to carry out the creation of an apiary or not, the “Handbook” explains the transformative process that results in the magnificent creation of honey.

Get one from your bookseller soon, and get “bzzy”!

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Ed and Cynthia Justus are owners of The Bookstore in Hanapepe.